The ins and outs of acting in television commercials

Actor Dennis Haysbert

   I have probably seen tens and tens of thousands of television commercials in my life. I never want to see these commercials, but it seems like too much of an effort to either walk away from the screen or cover my eyes and ears every time they are shown. Commercials have always been a part of my television watching experience, and are now a part of my movie theater experience as well. Owing to the fact that I've always found commercials to be a kind of necessary evil (necessary because I don't have the choice to remove them while watching television), I've never really concentrated very much on them. Because of this, I have tended not to think much about their construction and execution (whereas I do tend to analyze these in things I've chosen to see), and they therefore have a kind of selfsame, whole quality for me. By appearing seamless, the actors and actresses in these short films are more difficult to separate from the spots they're in and the characters they portray.

   The actor in the picture above, Dennis Haysbert, would probably be considered more of a spokesman for the insurance company he represents in commercials than an actor portraying a role, but the question of what the actor is portraying in these pieces has become one of interest for me. When an actor or actress plays a role in a commercial, are they interpreting a person to be believed as existing in the world depicted in the the advertisement, or are they taken to be an actor portraying a role of that person? It's an important distinction, because I think that when I watch a film, or even a situation comedy on television, I will be more interested in what I see if I can suspend my disbelief about the situation I am witnessing, and so believe a little bit more that the characters I see are real. 

   In the case of a spokesperson, it is apparent that the viewer is being asked to take the word of the actor or actress to verify the validity or quality of the product they are selling, and so understand them as existing both inside of and outside of the commercial. If someone performs in an advertisement, and they are viewed not as a spokesperson, but as an actor or actress, seen to exist only inside of the scene they are in, then where is they're outside for me the viewer? And if I should be the the person acting in one of these advertisements, then where would my inside be?